Student as Researchers
"Montessori is a method of education that is based on self-directed activity, hands-on learning, and collaborative play. In Montessori classrooms, children make creative choices in their learning, while the classroom and the teacher offer age-appropriate activities to guide the process. Children work in groups and individually to discover and explore knowledge of the world and to develop their maximum potential." -Montessori Northwest
As a Montessori teacher, I get to experience first hand the amazing opportunities this curriculum offers to my students and all Montessorians. A common misconception is that early childhood students do not participate in research, and even though most of the students are not going on the internet or opening up a research book, they are doing their own "research".
What I love about the quote above is that they include how the students explore. Children move freely throughout the environment, choosing activities that interest them. One of the most profound differences between Montessori education and conventional education is that, in Montessori, children are given the experience of discovering the answer for themselves. This leads to a much deeper learning experience and creates a lifelong love of learning as a self-directed process of problem-solving and discovery. Also, all the materials have a control of error so the child can self-correct and do their work without adult guidance. This is a great way to instill independence.
Another great thing about the Montessori materials is that there are extensions. So if a child is interested in the primary colors (which we introduce at the beginning of the year) there is a material called Color Box 1 which they can take out and match and look at the three primary colors. (red, blue, yellow)
Well then what if that child wonders about the other colors they know and how do you make those. That is when we introduce color box 2, which not only has the secondary colors (purple, green, orange) which is when you mix the primary colors together there are also pink, brown, black, white, and grey.
As a Montessori teacher, I get to experience first hand the amazing opportunities this curriculum offers to my students and all Montessorians. A common misconception is that early childhood students do not participate in research, and even though most of the students are not going on the internet or opening up a research book, they are doing their own "research".
What I love about the quote above is that they include how the students explore. Children move freely throughout the environment, choosing activities that interest them. One of the most profound differences between Montessori education and conventional education is that, in Montessori, children are given the experience of discovering the answer for themselves. This leads to a much deeper learning experience and creates a lifelong love of learning as a self-directed process of problem-solving and discovery. Also, all the materials have a control of error so the child can self-correct and do their work without adult guidance. This is a great way to instill independence.
Another great thing about the Montessori materials is that there are extensions. So if a child is interested in the primary colors (which we introduce at the beginning of the year) there is a material called Color Box 1 which they can take out and match and look at the three primary colors. (red, blue, yellow)
Well then what if that child wonders about the other colors they know and how do you make those. That is when we introduce color box 2, which not only has the secondary colors (purple, green, orange) which is when you mix the primary colors together there are also pink, brown, black, white, and grey.
Now the child knows that primary colors make secondary colors why are there so many different variations of all these colors. That is when you introduce Color box 3. This box consists of 63 tablets; 7 shades of 9 colors: red, yellow, blue, green, orange, purple, brown, pink, and grey. The child now has to short the colors from darkest to lightest. Setting them out in a way that they can see that all the 7 tabs are the same color but they are different shades.
The child has now discovered through their "research" or explorations of colors the full-color range and can now be more aware of color and lead him to observe the environment with intelligence. These works also help the child to appreciate the beauty all around them.
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